current issues

In the early 2000s, the city of Covington purchased several lots in the two blocks bounded by Orchard, Jackson, Berry, and Holman Streets. This once-thriving heart of Westside cottage industry had fallen into disrepair…and disrepute — just ask some of our longer-tenured neighbors! That purchase was part of a blight-remediation program that mandated subsequent redevelopment.

The first couple decades of the 2000s weren’t a great time for property investment in Covington. So the city granted a temporary lease to the Center for Great Neighborhoods, with the idea that the community could make productive use of the space until the city determined the time was right for redevelopment.

Enterprising Westsiders grabbed the opportunity and established a much-loved free-range chicken haven and community garden that for many came to represent the spirit of our neighborhood.

Facing opposition from residents, the city shelved a 2016 redevelopment plan. Five years later, the board of commissioners committed to an RFP for development along Orchard St that also proposed a city-built and -maintained pocket park.

Orleans Development secured approval to build townhomes along Orchard Street, but that project also fell through, while separately-bid projects have moved forward on other parcels. This time, the city has yet to explain that outcome or what comes next.

The tension between neighborhood greenspace and the city’s interest in addressing the housing crisis — and expanding the tax base for city services and for school funding — is yet unresolved for Orchard Park.

RoW is committed to hearing all perspectives and to working constructively with the city on plans that balance Westside interests with those of Covington as a whole.

In April 2025, the Covington board of commissioners approved industrial bond financing for a project at 1564 Banklick St, in which Orleans Development will transform long-abandoned warehouse space into 92 rental units.

Most residents welcome new housing given a nation-wide shortage and the emergence of Covington as the most popular place to live in northern Kentucky. But many are concerned about rising construction costs and leases out of reach for working-class residents. And any large development creates more traffic and pressure on existing infrastructure. RoW will track city plans to address these concerns and will solicit input from neighbors who live nearby on Russell, Banklick, and Holman Streets (and cross-streets).

In the next phase of redevelopment of the Bavarian Brewery and surrounds, the Kenton County Fiscal Court has announced plans for a 125-unit residential complex atop the underground parking garage currently under construction at MLK and Main St in Westside. The county previously purchased and demolished several historic homes to make way for this complex.

Most residents welcome new housing in Covington, but a project of this scale triggers inevitable concerns with increased traffic, especially given this development’s proximity to the redesigned exit infrastructure to come with the Brent Spence Bridge project.

RoW will gather neighbors to discuss how best to work with county and city governments to ensure that infrastructure keeps up with increased demands without compromising pedestrian and cyclist safety.

In 2020, the Covington board of commissioners passed ordinances that regulate facilities for shelters that serve Covington’s unhoused and housing-insecure residents. This effectively closed the long-time Scott St location for the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky (ESNKY), a low-barrier shelter that initially served as a life-saving facility for unhoused at risk during winter cold snaps.

(The Scott St site was subsequently designated the new home of Covington’s City Hall, bonds for which were issued by the board of commissioners in 2024; construction is under way.)

ESNKY, in coordination with Kenton County officials, found a new home at the former Steffen’s Tool Crib on W 13th St in Westside. The renovated property afforded ESNKY the opportunity to expand the beds available for folks in crisis to 68, and to provide year-round shelter, not just during the winter months.

A majority of neighborhood residents supports ESNKY’s mission to serve Covington’s most vulnerable residents. But locating a low-barrier shelter in a residential neighborhood has brought unsurprising complications and sparked some worries, not least because ESNKY operates on a first-come first-serve nightly basis. Clients of the shelter must fend for themselves for food and services during the day, and neither the city nor Kenton County has established adequate support services for unhoused people navigating a scattered and largely uncoordinated social service array.

In 2023-2024, in response to citizen concerns, the board of commissioners waged what turned into a confrontational and unproductive effort to enforce further regulations, and ESNKY has suspended brief efforts at ‘listening sessions’ with community members.

RoW recognizes that neighbors have voiced a range of strong opinions on what is too often a divisive issue. As a neighborhood association we don’t presume to speak for everyone by taking a stand on either ‘side’ of the debate. We do intend to re-start community engagement in pursuit of at least some progress toward resolution that balances the mission of ESNKY with valid resident concerns.